


Honey

by witch_lit



Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare, Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Background Clary/Isabelle - Freeform, F/F, Identity Reveal, Light Angst, M/M, Russian Translation Available, Universe Alteration, it sounds more dramatic than it is, slight AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-20
Updated: 2016-08-20
Packaged: 2018-08-09 23:04:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7820719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/witch_lit/pseuds/witch_lit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alec and Jace may have agreed to go on a date with one gorgeous Magnus Bane, who they met at a mundane farmer's market. They may have fallen a little harder than they expected. It really is too bad that Magnus is a mundane.<br/>Russian Translation Available here: https://ficbook.net/readfic/4774472 by the lovely ttsukiori</p>
            </blockquote>





	Honey

**Author's Note:**

> Based on this post: http://barryqueen.tumblr.com/post/144486031078/alec-and-magus-meet-at-a-mundane-cafe-running  
> Russian translation by ttsukiori: https://ficbook.net/readfic/4774472

            The mundane market is buzzing with life. Stalls, really just decorated tables under tents, brim with homemade goods and hand grown bouquets. Cloths sewn with menu items, compostable trays of vegetable and rubber banded herbs spilled into the vibrant day, a part of the colorful crowd.

            The sun beats down, but Alec finds shade behind his own table and with his sunglasses. Somewhere, Isabelle and Clary are wandering down paved streets, hand in hand, falling more in love, even though the stand had been their idea. Leave it to them to come up with the idea and have Jace and Alec do all the heavy lifting. Isabelle had tucked a flower behind Alec’s ear and said, _look alive_ , _sunshine,_ before disappearing into the crowd to find the Seelie group they were looking for.

            “Excuse me,” A firm voice says, and Alec’s attention snaps to the shorthaired girl holding one of Alec’s beeswax candles. “Does this smell like anything when it burns? I can’t really smell so…”

            “That one’s lavender infused,” Jace says, stepping closer to the girl. “If you’re more interested in fruity, we have pear or strawberry. Otherwise we have mint and sandalwood.”

            “And you made these all yourselves?”

            “Of course,” Jace says, with a wide grin. He runs his hand through his golden hair, and Alec feels warm all over. This mission really isn’t so bad.

            “In New York? How did you get a permit for the bees?” The girl asks, picking up a couple of candles and handing them to Jace. Alec feels a little proud that this girl is buying the candles he has spent hours on over the years, first learning how to make, and then studiously dipping the wick in hot wax and learning more practical ways to craft them.

            Jace laughs, but it’s charming. “We were allowed to put them on the roof of our building.”

            “Oh,” the girl says. “Lucky. Well, save the bees! Have a nice day.”

            “Save the bees,” Alec echoes, because that’s been a thing mundanes have been saying to them and he hadn’t even known there was a bee crisis. There had been a beehive on top of the Institute for as long as he can remember, Hodge teaching him how to harvest honey and wax, how to infuse the scents of the perfumed flowers.

            “I’ve always wanted to be a Mundie for a day,” Jace comments, his hands reaching to roll up his long sleeves and then stopping. They’re here to look like mundanes, and if Jace rolls up his sleeves any Seelie worth their salt is going to know the tattoos running up and down his arms aren’t just for show. It’s the same reason Alec has this ridiculous scarf wrapped around his neck. Cooling runes, a la Clary, only do so much.

            “No you haven’t,” Alec says.

            “You’re right, I haven’t,” Jace says, his fingers catching on Alec’s belt loop and pulling him closer. He wraps his arm around Alec’s waist, and for a moment they just stand in each other’s space and watch the market slip by around them. The moment ends as someone asks about the flavored honey sticks Alec made, and then another person asks about the soaps that Jace has been perfecting over the years.

            An hour has slipped by before the crowd starts to thin again. Alec hasn’t seen Clary or Izzy, but they’ve got a lot of work to do, and it’s only the second time they’ve been at the Thursday market. There’s a lot of ground to cover.

            “Do you make all of these products?” a man asks, getting Alec’s attention. And wow, is he worth it, with smooth fawn skin and a shawl covering a dark tank top and a lanky frame.

            “Um, yes,” Alec says, trying not to blush in front of the handsome stranger. “Yeah, I do. Well, my sister’s girlfriend sews the flowers together and Jace makes the soaps.”

            “Fascinating,” the man says. His fingers brush over the lid of one of the jars of honey Alec has out and towards the cups of the more convenient selection. “What do you do with this honey sticks?”

           “Er, well,” Alec says, rubbing the back of his head. “You eat them.”

            The man laughs as if Alec has said something funny, and maybe he has. He can’t always tell, but the stranger’s laugh is nice so it doesn’t matter. “No, I mean, do you usually put them in tea, or just eat them straight up?”

            “Oh!” Alec says, smiling. “You can do either. I like to eat the flavored ones by themselves, personally, I really like the sour cherry, but they plain one is good in tea too, if you’re into that. The flavored ones work out if you’re trying to modify your blend.”

            “I am,” the man says. “I’d love to try it out with you sometime.”

            “I don’t have any tea,” Alec says, looking around for a thermos he knows he doesn’t have.

            “He’s trying to ask you out, babe,” Jace says, sliding over to Alec and the potential customer.

            “I understand if you’re not interested,” the man says quickly. “It looks like you’re taken.”

            “Oh, he’s interested,” Jace says, and Alec groans. “He’s also taken. But I can share if you can.”

            _“Jace,_ ” Alec moans. “You can’t accept date invitations for me. If it even was a date invitation.”

            “It was,” the man says, smiling a bit hesitantly. “Which is still open.”

            “Really?” Alec says, taken a bit aback. “Even though I’m with Jace?”

            The man shrugs. “I’m not too jealous. I’m Magnus.”

            “Alec,” Alec says. “And, yeah, sure. We could go out sometime.”

            “Good,” Magnus grins. His smile is sincere in a way that Alec thinks he could really enjoy. “I’ll give you my number, and you can call me when you’re not busy. Both of you, if you want.”

            “I’m game,” Jace says quickly, then finds someone to cajole into testing his soap.

            “Now that that’s settled,” Magus says, handing Alec a slip of paper and a few dollar bills. “Here’s my number. And I’m getting some of these fancy honey sticks. I’m not just handing you dollars.”

            “Might want to save that until he gives you a lap dance,” Jace says, piping up from nowhere.

            “Jace!” Alec hisses, embarrassed as Jace pretends not to hear him. He turns back to Magnus. “I’m sorry about him. He can’t help himself, he has no impulse control.”

            “You _are_ gorgeous,” Magnus say easily.

            “O-oh,” Alec says. “Thank you.”

            Magnus smiles. “Have a nice day.”

            Once he’s gone, Jace slides back into place next to Alec. His smile splits his face. “You’re sweet on a mundie.”

            “Shut up,” Alec says, punching Magnus’s number into his phone. “So are you.”

            “I admit to nothing,” Jace says with a playful look in his eyes.

            Alec rolls his eyes and wonders how he got his lot in life.

 

            Alec spends most of the next week in a group chat with Jace and Magnus between missions and sleeping. They lie to Magnus as little as they can, answering questions about their stand easily. How long have you two been doing this? Not long, but both of them have been using bee products to make things since Alec took a shining to the beehive above the garden. What are you doing right now? Exercising. It’s less easy to answer questions about work.

            Alec’s pretty sure Magnus thinks they’re health nuts or personal trainers. Whenever they text Magnus is buried in research or playing with his cat, so they kind of figure Magnus is a librarian or a student. He doesn’t seem very old, mid twenties, so he could easily be a grad student at one of the many Universities in New York.

            On Tuesday, Jace and Alec go to a café near Magnus’s loft for tea. Well, it starts out as tea, with Alec’s honey straws and everything, (which are _excellent_ , thank you) but after and hour that turns into cocktails as they move to the bar next door. Alec and Jace limit themselves, because they have patrol after, but they still have a great time just talking with Magnus.

            “Who even wears a turtleneck in the middle of the summer?” Magnus asks, looking at Jace with playful disdain. He and Alec have decided to hide their runes the old fashioned way, with cloth instead of a glamour.

            Shadowhunters who don’t want to stir up trouble, Alec thinks.

            “I’ll have you know,” Jace says. “That turtlenecks are totally in. They’re ironically popular right now.”

            “Oh no, we’ve got a hipster on our hands,” Magnus jokes. “You’re wearing shorts with it, that doesn’t even make sense.”

            Jace lifts an eyebrow. “Are you trying to get me to take my clothes off?”

            “Maybe,” Magnus says.

            Alec stifles a giggle, and Magnus turns on him. “And you’re wearing a scarf! It’s like you two are conspiring to be extra clothed. Here I am, feeling all vulnerable in my tank top.”

            “It’s a nice scarf,” Alec says, mostly because it’s Isabelle’s scarf and she knows where he sleeps (and Jace is here to tattle).

            “It is,” Magnus concedes, running his hand along the thin blue fabric. Alec’s chest burns with heat that rises to his cheeks.

            “He likes you better than me,” Jace pouts.

            “No he doesn’t,” Alec says.

            “I might,” Magnus says. “I can’t help it. He’s taller.”

            Alec shoots Magnus a small look before kissing Jace’s forehead. Magnus doesn’t know how deep Jace’s insecurities lay, and it’s not really his fault, but Alec will be trying to subtly reassure Jace of his worth in the coming days from comments like that.

            “I’m joking,” Magnus says. “I like you too, blondie.”

            Alec hesitates a moment before leaning away from Jace and kissing Magnus’s shoulder. Magnus lets out a small sigh. There’s a buzz as Alec leans back, and it turns out to be Jace’s phone. It’s only thanks to Alec’s Shadowhunter hearing that he can hear it over the chatter around the bar.

            “We’ve gotta go,” Jace says. “Isabelle’s set something on fire again and Clary needs help getting her out of the kitchen.”

            “That girl,” Alec shakes his head. “Honestly.”

            “If you ever see Alec’s sister in the kitchen, you flee immediately,” Jace explains to Magnus. He pulls a couple of bills out of his wallet and throws them down on the table before standing up. “She’s a menace.”

            Magnus chuckles, standing up with the Shadowhunters. It’s a beat off from awkward, but close.

            “It was nice seeing you, Magnus,” Alec says. “Thank you for having drinks with us.”

            “Yeah, thanks,” Jace says. He puts his hand on Magnus’s shoulder and gives him a quick kiss. Alec follows, giving Magnus a short peck.

            “Text us?” Jace asks, his smile falling just right of nervous.

            “Sure thing,” Magnus says, though he does look a bit dazed. Alec feels very pleased.

            Once they’re out of the bar and block away, Alec turns to Jace. “What really happened?”

            “Demon activity. Just a couple of Raum demons, and Clary knew we were already in Brooklyn.”

            “She sure chose a nice time.”

            “If cock blocking was a job, Clary would be rolling in the dough. I was so distracted when she first got here that we hardly had sex at all,” Jace says.

            “I remember,” Alec says. “I suppose to doesn’t matter. We shouldn’t be getting too close to Magnus anyway. He’s a mundane.”

            “You’re right,” Jace says quietly, and Alec wonders if maybe they’re already too attached. They can’t be, it’s only been a week. It’s not like they would leave the Clave, their lives, for Magnus. It’s better if they keep this casual, even though there has never been anything casual about Alec Lightwood.

 

            Magnus visits them at their booth the next Thursday. It’s drizzling, so the market is mostly empty of both vendors and patrons, and being overdressed is actually keeping the Shadowhunters warm (they can’t very well blow their covers by drawing on warmth runes). They both lean over the counter to kiss him, one after another, as if waiting in a line for his affection.

            “I was wondering if you two were busy after the market,” Magnus asks, holding a polka dot umbrella and decked in a ridiculous pair of matching rain boots. Maybe Alec means adorable, but it doesn’t matter. They really shouldn’t be getting too attached to a mundane, but that tentative look Magnus has is making it hard.

            “We’ve sort of got to clean up our booth,” Alec says.

            “But we’d love to hang out after,” Jace says just as Magnus’s face begins to fall. “Honestly, in this weather, we’re better off taking the tent down now.”

            “Isabelle would kill us,” Alec says, and Jace rolls his eyes.

            “I doubt the girls are having much luck either. It’s a rainy day, it’s not like we’re about to lose out.”

            “Still,” Alec says, because they’re sort of in the middle of a mission. A really long one that probably won’t depend heavily on today, but. Alec doesn’t want to set a bad example or he’ll never hear the end of it.

            “I’ll text Clary, she’ll understand,” Jace offers. Alec wants to grumble that’s just because she’s nearly a mundane with how new to this Shadowhunters thing she is, but he restrains. Magnus, mundane extraordinaire, is right in front of them.

            Alec sighs. “Fine.”

            “Don’t hurt yourself on my behalf,” Magnus says, and he looks a little hurt.

            “No, not like that,” Alec says. “It’s not you. I like spending time with you, I just don’t want my sister to get the impression that I think playing hooky is okay.”

            “Ah,” Magnus says, an understanding smile creeping across his face. “I understand. I too have had to deal with the wild child type.”

            “I get more of the feeling you _were_ the wild child,” Alec says, and Magnus sticks out his tongue. 

            Jace grins. “It’s settled, then. We pack up and then pick up a coffee.”

            It’s light, and it’s fun, and Alec hasn’t enjoyed himself so much in his life. Being with Jace is great, wonderful even, but going for dates with Jace and Magnus is so much better. It’s a different kind of good, listening to Jace and Magnus banter, occasionally getting to sit back and observe without it being strange. He likes being a part of them, of this little group that he’s formed, a slice of bright against his shadow-heavy job.

            Alec thinks he might be falling a little in love with Magnus, and he thinks Jace might be too. They never meet him at his apartment, not wanting to show their runes, but it’s a slow but sure thing as they get to know each other. Alec thinks that, when this is all over, it’s going to hurt. Or maybe they can keep Magnus, but with the missing Mortal Cup, it’s not likely.

            Weeks pass, and Clary and Isabelle grow contacts. They’re all fresh-faced Shadowhunters, relatively new to missions with unknown and important downworlders, used to only picking up patrols and demon sightings. It’s not too hard for the girls to pass as mundanes interested in magic, especially Clary, and their mission could draw to a close at any time. They’re racing against an uncertain clock to enjoy Magnus for as long as possible.

           

            They’re with Magnus when they get the call that puts a nail in their mission. Izzy calls Alec, knowing he’ll always pick up for her, and Alec remembers the text he’d gotten from her earlier: _C & me following lead. Shouldn’t be a problem. _

            Alec has his phone to his hear the second he sees Isabelle’s ID, because she actually hates phone calls. He’s on his feet, too, a move that Jace automatically follows, displacing the feet Magnus has across his lap at the café they frequent.

            _“So my innocent lead may not have been so innocent,_ ” Isabelle is saying.

            “Iz,” Alec growls. “What did you do?”

            She chuckles nervously on the other side of the line. _“Well, the good news is that we found the Seelie group. The bad news is that we can’t make it out without being spotted.”_

            “I can’t believe you,” Alec says, digging in his wallet and pushing a five under his half-full mug. “Jace and I are coming to get you two idiots. Text me the address, we’ll be there as soon as we can.”

            Isabelle sighs on the other side of the line. _“Sorry. I thought this was a two Shadowhunter job, but maybe it was more of a three or four.”_

            “It’s okay,” Alec says. “Just next time, get help before it’s an emergency.”

            Alec hangs up his phone and turns to Magnus apologetically. “Sorry. We’ve got to go. My sister just got herself into a really unpleasant situation she needs help getting out of.”

            “No, it’s okay,” Magnus says, then shakes his phone. “One of my clients just called. I’ve got to go put out some fires.”

            Alec and Jace kiss Magnus’s cheeks before all but running out of the café, off to a location a half-mile away. When they get there, sneaking in and extracting Isabelle and Clary with some well-timed distraction sequences, the girls are more than ready to go.

            “They called in a High Warlock,” Isabelle says. “They knew we were there, just not where.”

            “By the angel,” Alec says. “You two really shouldn’t have gone in alone.”

            “It seemed important at the time,” Clary says, and that’s why Alec doesn’t always like Clary. She’s impulsive enough for three people, and frankly, Iz isn’t always much better.

            “Besides, we got the client lists off of the server,” Isabelle says. “We just need to meet the guys in charge.”

            “You two didn’t burn your cover?” Alec asks, trying to figure out what’s still salvageable.

            “No, you worrywart,” Isabelle rolls her eyes.

            In the end, they didn’t actually fudge the mission at all. They needed a ladder because they’d rolled down a hill, not because they’d dug a grave. They’d gotten useful information, and all the Seelie group knew was that someone had been through, not the identities of the thieves. The rest of the mission should go relatively quickly, and they don’t really need their stand at the farmer’s market anymore.

            The stand was more to give an excuse for Isabelle and Clary to be out, to build a story, than anything. It was just supposed to give Alec and Jace ears around the market, which had only happened a little. They were up to date on all the human gossip, but that’s it. There really is no reason for them to keep running their booth at the market.

            “Giving up on it doesn’t mean giving up on Magnus,” Jace says, after they’ve moved the last of their supplies into the Institute’s storage. They’re lying on their backs on Jace’s bed, their forearms touching.

            “It kind of does, Jace,” Alec says. “Because it’s all we had that made us mundanes, that made it so we could be with Magnus.”

            “Magnus likes us,” Jace says. “Maybe we could tell him?”

            “And potentially ruin his life and trust in us with the whole ‘there are demons in the world and yes they are trying to kill you’ stuff we have to deal with? I think we should just let go.”

            “I don’t want to let go,” Jace says, his fingers slipping between Alec’s.

            Alec is quiet for a minute. It’s all too much for them to ask of Magnus, beautiful, funny, charming Magnus. “I don’t want to let him go either, Jace. But maybe it’s better.”

            “So, what,” Jace snarls, recoiling from Alec. “Just send him a text, like, ‘this was fun but see you again never’?”

            Alec sits up on the bed, shoulder to shoulder with Jace. “I don’t want to do this either.”

            “Sure seems like it,” Jace says, and it’s less venom and more exhaustion. “I love being a Shadowhunter, but sometimes…”

            “Sometimes it sucks.”

            “Maryse would kill you if she heard you say that.”

            “It’s a good thing she’s not here, then,” Alec says.

 

            Alec and Jace hardly speak over the next week. They’re still close, because at the end of the day they love each other, but it feels like their relationship wilted without Magnus. When Alec’s with Jace, he feels like what they have now is a muted version of what they had a week ago. With Magnus.

            Alec doesn’t think they’ve had this big of a Not-Fight, because Fight involves yelling and burning hurt feelings, since Jace asked him to be his _Parabatai_. That smoothed over after a couple of weeks, after Alec leaned in to kiss Jace for the first time. This Not Fight, _argument_ , won’t be solved so easily.

            It’s Clary, with her inability to stay out of anyone’s business, (a trait she shares with Isabelle, who _backs her_ up, the traitor) that finally gets them talking about it again.

            “Look, we can all see you two are miserable without Magnus,” Clary says bluntly, despite the fact that they’re in the middle of the central hub of the Institute. “Why don’t you guys just go talk to him?”

            “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Alec says, because his private life does not need to be common knowledge among the New York Shadowhunters. Raj is smirking at him as he walks by with a file, which is great. Really.

            At the same time, Jace says, “Because Alec has a stick up his ass.”

            “I do not,” Alec hisses. “Come on, let’s not air our dirty laundry where everyone can see it.”

            Clary and Isabelle team up to give him the Disappointed Glare of Death, but Jace just shakes his head and the conversation is shelved. They pick it back up in the training room, exchanging blows a little more violently than necessary.

            It’s not that Jace will ever go easy on Alec, or vice versa, but they’re not usually working out their problems in such a way. And hell, maybe it’s not healthy, but Alec and Jace rarely feel as in sync as when they’re fighting together. It takes away words that Alec stumbles with and Jace uses far too sharply. It’s just them, and they’re both hurting.

            “I think we would regret going,” Alec says once they’re both on their backs, breathing hard.

            “We wouldn’t know unless we tried,” Jace says.

            “I don’t want to risk it,” Alec says.

            “I get it, Alec,” Jace says. “It is a risk. But you’ve got to get out of your comfort zone, and even if it ends badly, at least we’ll know.”

            Alec is quiet, which isn’t quite consent, but Jace knows they’ll be asking to meet with Magnus in the coming days anyway. He’d have already done it himself if Alec wasn’t just as much a part of his relationship with Magnus as he was himself. Besides, Magnus had seemed more interested in Alec anyway…

 

            Magnus agrees to meet Jace and Alec two days later, a Thursday that they would have been spending at the farmer’s market if they were actually mundanes. Alec has a dozen of honey sticks and Jace has some flowers that make Alec’s nose itch, but they both know it probably won’t make up for ignoring Magnus for a week. It’s a start, and maybe if they explain…

            Jace’s head swerves towards the café door every time it jingles open, sticking his head out of their homely booth at the back of the establishment. Today, Jace is wearing the scarf and Alec a high collared shirt. They can both take them off to (or, Alec can unbutton his shirt a little bit) show Magnus their runes, and they should be well hidden enough that everyone else wouldn’t see when they deglamor them.

           The door chimes, and Jace tenses up. He stands and fidgets with his scarf before walking towards the front door, leaving Alec at their table to safeguard it.

            Alec peeks around the corner to watch the exchange, and Magnus looks ticked. His mouth is set in a frown and his arms fold over his chest when he sees Jace approaching him. He looks good, otherwise, his makeup elegantly framing his face, a sheer ¾ sleeve shirt over a dark tank top and a studded belt hanging off his hips. His boots look like they could crush a ribcage, but Alec tries not to take it too personally.

            Jace, thank Raziel, buys Magnus a drink before leading him back to the maroon booth. Alec and Jace sit across from Magnus, who leans back in his seat.

            “I, uh, brought you these,” Alec says, pushing the honey sticks to the other side of the table.

            “And these,” Jace says, holding the bouquet he bought out for Magnus to take. When he doesn’t take them, Jace sets them down on the table and bites back a hurt look.

            “Why have you two been ignoring me?” Magnus asks.

            There’s silence at the table for a couple of beats.

            “It’s kind of a funny story…” Alec says, scratching the back of his head. “We, uh, didn’t want to involve you in something dangerous.”

            “I wanted to give you the option,” Jace cuts in, and Alec refrains from sending him a murderous look.

            “I can take care of myself,” Magnus says slowly. “It wasn’t your decision.”

            “That’s why we’re here,” Alec says. “We wanted to be honest and let you make your own decision.”

            If Magnus’s decision involves hiring a Warlock to erase his memories, then so be it. Jace doesn’t want to deal with the regret of not knowing, and Alec can give him that, even if it makes him feel uncomfortably vulnerable.

            Magnus looks a little conflicted, and oddly, a little excited. Like he maybe doesn’t believe the danger is real.

            Alec runs a hand over his face as he sighs, pulling at his collar a little bit.

            “Holy shit,” Magnus says, his face bright with surprise. “You’re a Shadowhunter! You’re both Shadowhunters!”

            Alec and Jace freeze, and then share a look.

            “So you already know about the Shadow world,” Jace says carefully. “So Alec has been freaking out over nothing.”

            “I couldn’t have known,” Alec hisses.

            “How do you know about Shadowhunters?” Jace asks, brushing Alec off.

            Magnus blinks, and then snaps his fingers. A ball of blue flames appear in his right hand.

            Alec lets out a surprised “oh,” before he can stop himself. He coughs and adds, “You’re a Warlock.”

            “The High Warlock of Brooklyn,” Magnus says a little smugly. “I’m actually surprised you two didn’t know.”

            “We’re in the Seelie Crimes Unit,” Jace says, his back taught. “We’ve never been formally briefed on you or any other area Warlocks.”

            “Sounds like a fun job,” Magnus says breezily. “So is this the part where you two decide you don’t want to date a downworlder?”

            Alec and Jace share a confused look.

            “No?” Alec says. “We were worried out lives would be too much for you, that you’d have to become a part of the shadow world for our relationship to go anywhere. That’s not a problem if you’re a Warlock, right?”

            “You’re not worried about your standing in the eyes of the Clave?” Magnus asks. He seems genuinely surprised.

            “We can handle it,” Jace says.

            “Besides,” Alec says. “In the eyes of the Clave, Jace can do no wrong.”

            Jace grins. “Fuck off, Alec. It was _one_ time.”

            “Oh,” Magnus says. “You two would really… You really still want to date me? _I_ know I’m fantastic, but among Shadowhunters, that knowledge seems scarce at best.”

            “I don’t care,” Jace proclaims.

            Alec nods and leans over the table toward Magnus. When he’s close, he whispers, “Can I kiss you?”

            Magnus nods, his hand coming to rest on the back of Alec’s head as he pulls him in for a kiss. It’s passionate, Alec saying, _yes, we want you,_ Magnus saying, _I can’t believe I get to keep this_.

            Next to Alec, Jace coughs. Alec and Magnus split apart to see Jace’s grin.

            “Not that I wasn’t enjoying the view, but do you think I could have a turn?”


End file.
